SASSA suffering from 62% vacancy rate
Staff shortages hitting grant beneficiaries hard
SASSA is operating at less than 50% staff capacity, with a 62% vacancy rate impacting social grant services. Budget constraints limit the agency’s ability to fill critical positions despite increasing demand.
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The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is facing a critical staffing shortage, with less than 50 percent of its permanent positions filled in local offices nationwide.
This shortage is contributing to long queues and delays in social grant services, raising concerns over service delivery.
A recent parliamentary question from Democratic Alliance Member of Parliament Alexandra Abrahams revealed that SASSA’s fixed staff establishment includes 18 603 permanent posts, but only 7 076 of these are currently filled.
This means a vacancy rate of 62 percent, with 144 funded posts vacant at different stages of recruitment, and a total of 128 posts having been vacated.
''The latter indicates the Agency has a 2% vacancy rate in terms of funded posts,'' said Social Development Minister Nokuzola Tolashe.
Tolashe explained that, while there are 272 funded vacancies out of 18 000 vacant positions, many posts remain unfunded due to constraints in the Compensation of Employees (CoE) budget.
''With challenges of a limited Compensation of Employees budget, the Agency employs contract workers to fill gaps and utilises ICROP to extend social security services to remote communities,'' she said.
Moreover, the Agency is planning to automate its business processes, which will bring about improved services and efficiencies in service delivery.
Frontline staff in local offices are particularly affected, with only 4,806 employees attending to grant applications and client queries, leaving 86 funded posts vacant.
KwaZulu-Natal has the highest number of local office filled posts at 1,071, followed by the Eastern Cape with 833, and Gauteng with 583. The Northern Cape is the most understaffed, with just 258 employees.